Ribbon-cutting for C.H.E.F. Express

The Youngstown/ Warren Regional Chamber will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Choffin Career & Technical Center, 200 East Wood St., for the grand opening of The C.H.E.F. Express at 10 a.m. today.

The C.H.E.F. Express originally opened in February 2016 as the Cookies & Cream Cafe. At that time, the cafe was run solely by students in the hospitality class at Choffin. In 2018, the cafe closed to undergo improvements and is reopening as a joint partnership with students in both the hospitality and culinary arts classes.

Ceremony for Family First

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. Thursday for Family First Adult Day Services, 4199 Kirk Road.

Family First Adult Day Services co-owners Vince Smith and Christina Vlosich have more than 50 years of combined experience in health care and have always loved working with the senior population. Family First is a way for them to continue to serve the senior population in a new way.

Celebration for OUPS planned

NORTH JACKSON

The Youngstown/ Warren Regional Chamber will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Ohio Utilities Protection Service, 12467 Mahoning Ave., at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Ohio Utilities Protection Service, the state’s one-call headquarters, will commemorate the completion of its new building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration.

Child advocates seek probe into YouTube

In a complaint filed Monday, child advocates and consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and impose potentially billions of dollars of penalties on Google for allegedly violating children’s online privacy and allowing ads to target them.

“Google profits handsomely from selling advertising to kid-directed programs that it packages,” said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups that drafted the complaint. “They created a successful model monetizing kids’ data.”

Television networks also run ads during cartoons and other programs aimed at kids.

The difference? YouTube does so with a lot of data collection. Its business model relies on tracking IP addresses, search history, device identifiers, location and other personal data about its users so that it can gauge their interests and tailor advertising to them. But a 1998 federal law prohibits internet companies from knowingly collecting personal data from kids under 13 without their parents’ consent.

The coalition accuses YouTube of violating that law and deliberately profiting off luring children into what Chester calls an “ad-filled digital playground” where commercials for toys, theme parks or sneakers can surface alongside kid-oriented videos.